Statement

The Board received briefings on the Agency’s Performance Accountability Report and global audience estimate. In addition, broadcast executives updated the Board on programming and coverage issues.

On November 18 the BBG discussed a report by Deloitte Consulting LLP (“Deloitte”) about the feasibility of merging the three BBG “grantee” broadcasters — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) — into a single corporate structure, sharing a unified administrative and legal framework.

In the interest of openness and transparency, the Board is sharing the executive summary of that report. The Board has agreed to study the proposal further. No decision has been made at this time.

The Board commissioned the report following adoption of a new strategic plan that called for exploring a merger of the “grantees” as part of streamlining operations and improving editorial operations.

The Deloitte study included assessment of qualitative benefits and risks of integrating, as well as estimating savings and costs to implement.

Further, Deloitte developed a high level roadmap and potential timeline for the merger. Finally, Deloitte summarized the considerations related to the potential integration of Voice of America (VOA) and the Office of Cuban Broadcasting (OCB).

The executive summary of the report is here. Comments and questions are invited. You can join the conversation at www.bbgstrategy.com.